— A great line to the people of Iraq, “Your enemy is not surrounding your country, your enemy is ruling your country.”

— I was a little surprised Bush spent so much time on AIDS in Africa. Of course, AIDS in Africa is a terrible thing, but it’s not exactly one of the hot political topics of the day.

— If Bush’s tax cut is only for the rich then how can the following be the case, “This tax relief is for everyone who pays income taxes, and it will help our economy immediately. Ninety-two million Americans will keep this year an average of almost $1,100 more of their own money. A family of four with an income of $40,000 would see their federal income taxes fall from $1,178 to $45 per year.”

— I loved it when Fox focused on John Edwards’ emotionless face when Bush talked about getting trial lawyers under control.

— I think it was smart for Bush to say, “Tonight I’m proposing $1.2 billion in research funding so that America can lead the world in developing clean, hydrogen-powered automobiles.” It goes right to investing in technology, supporting the environment, getting away from oil — all areas that Bush is perceived to be weak on.

— I’m glad Bush talked about 9/11 because we don’t talk enough about it these days. We’re all still walking in the shadow of 9/11 and will be for years to come. We shouldn’t forget that.

— “Across the Earth, America is feeding the hungry. More than 60 percent of international food aid comes as a gift from the people of the United States.” Yeah, but the US is greedy, bad, evil, yada, yada, yada — yeah right…

— As I viewed it, this was a little dig at Clinton…

“Throughout the 1990s, the United States relied on a negotiated framework to keep North Korea from gaining nuclear weapons. We now know that that regime was deceiving the world and developing those weapons all along.”

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— “All told, more than 3,000 suspected terrorists have been arrested in many countries.

And many others have met a different fate. Let’s put it this way: They are no longer a problem to the United States and our friends and allies.” Winning the war on terror by killing our enemies! Ya gotta love it!

— Another nice line about the futility of the UN inspections, “The 108 U.N. inspectors….were not sent to conduct a scavenger hunt for hidden materials across a country the size of California. The job of the inspectors is to verify that Iraq’s regime is disarming.”

— Bush explains why we cannot allow rogue regimes that cooperate with terrorists to have WMD, “Imagine those 19 hijackers with other weapons and other plans, this time armed by Saddam Hussein. It would take one vial, one canister, one crate slipped into this country to bring a day of horror like none we have ever known. We will do everything in our power to make sure that that day never comes.”

— Another excellent quote, “Some have said we must not act until the threat is imminent. Since when have terrorists and tyrants announced their intentions, politely putting us on notice before they strike?”

— I liked this as well, “Our war against terror is a contest of will in which perseverance is power. In the ruins of two towers, at the western wall of the Pentagon, on a field in Pennsylvania, this nation made a pledge, and we renew that pledge tonight: Whatever the duration of this struggle and whatever the difficulties, we will not permit the triumph of violence in the affairs of men; free people will set the course of history.” Bush is not promising “easy,” he’s saying we’re going prosecute the war on terror to the end even though it will be difficult.

— This line gave me, “warm fuzzies”, “In each case, the ambitions of Hitlerism, militarism and communism were defeated by the will of free peoples, by the strength of great alliances and by the might of the United States of America.”

— Again, Bush made it clear that we’re going to hit Iraq with or without UN approval…

“America’s purpose is more than to follow a process. It is to achieve a result: the end of terrible threats to the civilized world.”

“Yet the course of this nation does not depend on the decisions of others.”

— As expected, Bush did not declare war. But, he did the up the rhetoric level and he made it pretty clear that the UN’s last chance was going to be the negotiations that start on Feb 5th. Powell is going to talk to them and they’re either going to agree to back us or they’re not, but either way, we’re going to declare hostilities after that.